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Show Public Forum t4seect sii6 Tns co'umn is for the use c: o-- readers as long as ar-t.c ar-t.c es are not defamatory to private individuals. This newspaper doesn't take sides witn any of the views expressed. express-ed. Contributions are welcome. ASLEEP IN THE STORM By G. W. States it s.'.'Tus to me there is a vast nuii.li- r "f l eni'h- all uvt-r who are still unaware of the mighty issues at slake ill the pit's. ail state of the world and the trt-meiidous pos- ."ihilities of disaster thai confront the last stronghold oi democracy i The Western Hemisphere. ! Are we asleep in the greatest j storm thai ever struck the world Is a night, a dreadful night, falling fall-ing over the world? Most all of Kurope is engulfed and the shadows shad-ows are lengthening farther and farther out to the ends of the ends of the earth. Practically ev ery country in Kurope today lives under an iron-clad tyranny. Justice Jus-tice has fled and liberty has vanished. van-ished. Every day there comes from Europe a story of carnage and destruction de-struction more barbarous than anything we can read in ancient history. We have entered an epoch ep-och more cruel, .more heartless, than any the world has known. We can hear the frightening cries of a great host of refugees, fleeing flee-ing before the invading armies; the pitiful weeping of thousands of orphaned, homeless, hungry children; the despairing groans of countless multitudes who have been dragged from their homes and hiding places by secret police, kicked, and bludgeoned into concentration con-centration camps. It is obvious that many people feel snug and secure in this country, coun-try, still uunaware of the mighty isses at stake in the present international inter-national truggle and its possibilities possibili-ties of further disaster. Again let us ask Are we asleep in the greatest storm that ever struck the world. Careless and ignorant of the pos sihilities inherent in this gigantic conflict, some are discussing tho most trifling matters, which we could all name, while great nations na-tions are hurled into oblivion, a whole continent reverts to barbarism, bar-barism, and the whole world shudders with the shock of bat-liug bat-liug empires. To those who wish to understand under-stand the role of tyrants in past history let me suggest they read the record of Ivan the Terrible of Russia, Frederick of Germany, and Napoleon of France. Their story can be found in Beacon Lights of History in the public library. Ivan, the lunatic, ordered the public execution of from 500 to 10110 of his enemies every day fof-five fof-five weeks. John Lloyd, the historian his-torian said of Frederick, "He destroyed des-troyed the bodies of men in a heartless war and nourished principles prin-ciples that poisoned the soul," and he quotes Napoleon as saying, It is proof of the weakness of the human understanding for any one to dream of resisting me." All tyrants like these examples of the past three hundred years are all cut on the same pattern they wish to ape the imperial Caesars in arrogance and the insolence in-solence of their demands. Our asmodern tyrants look upon Europe Eur-ope as belonging to themselves, indifferent to the sufferings of mankind and the peace of the world. Arer these modern tyrants headed our way? |